DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



49 



This operates severely upon the California emi- 

 orat^ts, who are conjjregaTed here by thousands, 

 waitinj;; for grass. The fall of '45 continued un- 

 til about the I8th Dec. pleasant and warm, the 

 thermometer frequently at 75°, which it was on 

 the 16th, and on the 20lh 6° below ! Similar 

 changes often take place during the winter. I 

 shall keep a weather table, and if you can make 

 it serviceable, I will send you the result. [Will 

 be glad to see it.] Yours, respectfully, F. 

 Hawn. Weston_ Mo., Jpril 11, 1850. 



P. S. The soil on which my nursery is situated 

 is a strong limestone, producing 50 bushels of corn 

 per acre with little labor, and rolling. The ori- 

 ginal growth of timber was Hackberry, White 

 Hickory, Walnut, Elm, Linn, and different Oaks, 

 but no White Oak. 



After a continued severe winter, or an open 

 winter with severe weather after, the roots 

 of many of the apple trees are mostly killed, par- 

 ticularly the fibres. F. H. 



licsTON HoRT. Society. — Dear Sir : I was 

 much gratified with half an hour passed in the 

 exhibiiion room last Saturday, and made a few 

 rough notes, which I send you for publication. 



In the first place, those floral giants, the Tree 

 poenias, had a grand time of it, and the show of 

 them by various contributors was larger than ever 

 before seen in this state, and as I presume in the 

 United States. Among the contributors of this 

 most brixom and altogether most magnificent of 

 spring flowering shrubs, were Messrs. Breck & 

 Co., Cabot, Wilder, and Hovey & Co. By far 

 the largest collection was from Col. Wilder, who 

 presented 80 flowers in 16 varieties. The most 

 distinct varieties were P. rosea superba, alba ple- 

 na Belgique, Newmanii, Hissieina, Grand Duke 

 of Baden, Le Soleil, Imperafrice, Josephine, Wal- 

 nerii, rubra splendens, ocuilata, and Heldii. 



Mr. Breck showed a superb specimen of IVista- 

 ria sinensis. The novelties that attracted most 

 attention were Mr. Barnes' new French Verbe- 

 nas, and Col. Wilder'^; seedling Calceolarias. 

 The Verbenas were Iphigene and Reine de Jour, 

 both remarkably fine and distinct — superior to Ro- 

 binson's Defiance. The Calceolarias from Haw- 

 thorn Grove were exquisitely beautiful — or rather 

 most delicately grotesque, for they resembled clus- 

 ters of delicately spotted tropical insects, half- 

 poised in the air, as much as flowers. 



The show of flowers and shrubs was fine, and 

 of Hawthorns and Azaleas the variety was par- 

 ticularly rich. These were chiefly from Messrs. 

 HovEY, Breck, and Kenrick. Miss Russell 

 and Miss Kenrick contributed some boqueis en 

 corbeiile, charmingly arranged. 



Mr. Allen, of Salem, as usual, carried off the 

 prizes for forced fruits. There were 17 dishes of 

 ripe grapes from his vineries, on the tables, four 

 varieties of large well-ripened cherries, besides 

 figs, nectarines, and peaches. Some remarkably 



large and fine clusters of Black Hamburgh grapes 

 from Mr. Bigelow of Brighton, were much prais^ 

 cd. Yours, ^ Looker-on in Boston. June 10, 

 1850. 



Strawberries. — Mr. Downing — A fortnight 

 since my gardener produced quite a sensation 

 among the juveniles of the household, by appris- 

 ing us that from a large and thrifty bed of straw- 

 berries, (Hovey's Seedlings,) then in full bloom, 

 we should not gather one berry. And sure enough, 

 upon investigation all the plants were pistillates — 

 when I directed him to transplant from a distant 

 bed of other varieties, some stamanate plants, and 

 place them carefully among the Hovey's Seed- 

 lings — and the result is an abundant show of fruit. 



The effects oi' this horticultural wedlock will not 

 surprise you, though it may interest some of 

 your readers. Evelyn. Dutchess Co., N. Y., 

 June, 1850. 



On the Virtues of Spent Tan-Bahk to thb 

 Horticulturist and Florist.-- -Although averse 

 to repeat thrice told tales, or to recapitulate w'hat 

 I have for the past twenty years both written and 

 orally advised horticultural friends, respecting the 

 the many virtues of spent tan, I am induced, the 

 more from your note appended to Mr. Cleve- 

 land's article, to make a farther record of my 

 experience with that article, especially as it is so 

 generally condemned, ignorantly, as a dangerous 

 if not an useless substance in the garden. On 

 the contrary I believe, and practice' has satisfied 

 me, that where it can be readily procured, it is 

 a grand auxiliary and highly to be prized. 



In detailing you the following experiments, I 

 beg leave to say, they are all from my own prac- 

 tice and observation. 



1st. A ton of spent tan, plowed or spaded un- 

 der, and well comminuted with a stiff clay soil, in 

 the fall of the year, will render such a spot fit for 

 gardening purposes, sooner and better than ten 

 tons of sand. It creates permeability, friability, 

 and warmth, and decomposes, when thus covered, 

 in the course of two or three years, giving great 

 fertility to the soil. A stifl' clay should have ton 

 or fifteen per cent of fresh tan spaded to the depth 

 of a foot or more, repeating the dose for a season 

 or two. On such a spot, with other of course 

 proper manures, I have had a fine garden, yield- 

 ing such crops of asparagus, beets, carrots, &o., 

 &c., as rarely to be found on sand or gravel soils. 



As a mulching for strawberry beds, it has no 

 equal. Put it on two or three inches thick. It 

 warms the ground and prevents the plant heaving 

 during the thawings of winter; and withal, it is 

 the cleanest and sweetest article for the berries to 

 lie upon — besides keeping the weeds down. The 

 runners readily strike through it. Some use savr- 

 dust or turners' chips, which do tolerably well, but 

 are not at all equal to spent tan. 



As a mulching for dwarf pear trees, the goose- 

 berry, and other fruit trees or shrubbery, it is cap- 



